15,000 FARMERS descended on Westminster yesterday to oppose the ‘Family Farm Tax’ – Inheritance Tax (IHT) – which the government wants to levy on any farm with assets above £1 million.
The theme of the action was to show what it takes to provide the ingredients for pancakes. That’s why the action was called for ‘pancake day’ – Shrove Tuesday.
Richard Jackson, a farmer from Yelvertoft in Northamptonshire told News Line: ‘Before you eat your next mouthful, think of where the food comes from.
‘The government is adamant that they are going ahead with this tax. But of all the 27 cabinet ministers not one has ever run a business of any kind.’
Unlike the previous mass protests against the Family Farm Tax, there were only seven machines present yesterday, which had to be ‘pre-agreed’ with the police under the conditions of the Public Order Act, police said.
The Met Police banned all other ‘mechanically propelled vehicles’ from the capital, threatening farmers with arrest if they came aboard their tractors as in previous protests.
Among the machines on display were:
- a Crop Sprayer – £300,000;
- a Forage Harvester – £700,000;
- a Sugar Beet Harvester – £600,000;
- a Combine Harvester – £500,000;
- a Sugar Beet drill – £90,000.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers Union, addressed the crowd in Whitehall, saying: ‘Food security is national security.
‘I’ve had a very distressing message from the grandson of a 96-year-old farmer who has just had a stroke, and of course he is very worried about the future.
‘It has a huge impact on people, they can’t plan. Also the world order in recent weeks has been disturbing.
‘We need to get farming investing for the future. We cannot go away and we will not.’
Andrew Little, a member of the Ulster Farmers Union, who had travelled from County Fermanagh in the north of Ireland, told News Line: ‘It has to be stopped. Farmers run on a very low profit. We sell on a world market so we have to take what we get. Then we spend our money in the local economy. Putting us out of business is bad for everyone.’
George Spence, from Lambourn in Berkshire, said: ‘I’m here to show solidarity with the farming community. IHT will have a dramatic effect on small farms. They are also making farm machinery count towards the one million, which makes farms eligible for Inheritance Tax.’
George Hardie, who was with a group of young workers who had travelled from East Sussex to take part, said: ‘Our future is in farming. IHT needs to go. They need to review their decision.’ His friend, Liam Hodges, said: ‘It’s terrible what’s happening to the Palestinians. That’s something else this government is hated for.’
